Moments in Time
by Wolfstar96
Summary: After Goku was imprisoned, the other gods placed a distressing rule upon the four souls. Goku is to be in prison for 7 lifetimes. In order to shorten the time span, Kanzeon Bosatsu placed a curse of her own... Rated T for violence, language, and some potentially disturbing situations.
1. Intro

I... got a sudden burst of inspiration. So I wrote it! Saiyuki **does not **belong to me!

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Intro

After the imprisonment of Son Goku, Kanzeon Bosatsu not only erased his memories of his past and crime but also placed a special spell upon the four souls that had escaped from Heaven. These souls were- and are- completely intertwined with one another, destined to be together no matter the lifetime. But with one of them banished to a mountaintop, the other 3 would never feel whole, even if they met.

Now, the other gods had decided a cruel fate for these beings. These four would have to wait seven lives for Goku to receive freedom from his cage. The eighth life, the one with the group's famous 'Journey to the West', would be the time when they are finally allowed to release their fourth member.

Kanzeon did all she could, but could not persuade the others to lower the sentence. So instead, she helped the souls reach their eighth life quicker.

She cursed them.

Until the eighth life, none of the four spirits could interact with each other.

For souls as deeply connected as these ones, not meeting the others would be Hell. The insanity of never feeling complete, of feeling like one-fourth of who you were meant to be, would drive the beings to rush for death. They would seek their own demise in hopes that the next life would be better.

It was cruel. And she knew it. But it would be crueler to gaze at them from so far above the world and do nothing while witnessing as they lived out their incomplete lives, never once realizing that the final piece to their puzzle was trapped on Mount Gogyou.

Hopefully, this would help.

Hopefully.

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I also have the first chapter ready! So up it goes!


	2. Life 1

So here is life number 1- told from Sanzo's POV. Except he isn't Sanzo yet...

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Life 1

I had lived in this orphanage my entire life. Sister Mary said I had been left on the doorstep with no information, not even a name- if I had ever been given one. Sister took to calling me Deus, which means 'God' in Latin. She said it was because my blonde hair and violet eyes reminded her of a saintly being.

I never particularly cared for her reasoning, as I didn't really believe in Him no matter how hard she tried to 'teach' me.

The orphanage was currently filled with other kids. More than there had ever been in my 12 years of life. Twelve people were stuffed into the tiny common room, including me and Sister. I recognized them as being children from the nearby village. I was going to ask Sister as to why there were suddenly ten new arrivals, but thought that I should ask later so I didn't upset anyone. Who knows what kind of disaster had ensued to bring them all here.

Sister quietly catalogued everyone's names and ages. Then she told me to take them out, one by one, and show them to their rooms.

I led kid after kid to the small rooms we have. I would open the door, mumble, "lights out at 9, breakfast at 8," shuffle back to Sister, and repeat.

After they were all settled in, I queried, "Sis, why are there so many children? Did something happen to the village?"

The orphanage is about 20 minutes from town, so if something occurred, we wouldn't know about it until it was time to buy food (which was every Wednesday).

"Yes." Is all she said. Sister sounded… sad.

"Yes what? What happened?" I asked.

"…Bandits, Deus. They ransacked the whole place, and those ten were the only people to escape."

I realized why this was so upsetting now. They were the _only_ survivors? The village wasn't exactly big, but had held at least 80 people.

There were around 70 deaths.

In one day.

Sister stood suddenly and said, "Tomorrow, you and I can see the destruction for ourselves. I think it would be best if we knew the extent of the damage."

She left the room. I felt slightly numb. I had… not _friends _but… acquaintances in the village. And now they had most likely perished in the attack.

Why was my eyesight blurry? I reached up to touch my face and was surprised when my fingers felt something wet.

_Am I crying?_

_I've never cried before._

_Why now?_

These thoughts floated around in my head. I pushed them away, dried my face, and stumbled into my room where I fell onto my bed and buried my head in the pillow.

I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning after breakfast was served to ten sullen and somber children, Sister and I headed out. The walk was silent and filled with anxiety. What did the houses look like now? Were they just abandoned or would we discover corpses strewn about the streets?

We weren't prepared for what we saw.

Blood coated every surface we could see. The coppery smell almost made me gag. Mutilated bodies sat in seemingly innocent positions, as if everyone had been peacefully going about their day.

One body in particular held my interest. They man's hair was so matted with blood that it appeared to actually be his natural color. His eyes, staring into nothing, had also been stained a wine-red hue. His clothes, which were torn, made me realize that he had been a bandit and had gotten killed- by friendly fire no doubt. Why was he so damn interesting to look at? Sister tapped my shoulder and ushered me on.

We also saw a big, and utterly destroyed, caravan. A body just outside appeared as though it had been running away when the ambush started. Exploring inside brought me the second corpse that I couldn't help staring at. This boy's once pretty face was marred by the hole in his forehead, dripping blood into his green eyes that were glazed over post-mortem. His clothes indicated that he was not from around here, these people had been just passing through. Again, Sister pulled me along past the gore.

After a while, we journeyed back to the orphanage. But I couldn't get the two cadavers out of my head. What about them had kept my attention for so long? Was it because it didn't seem right to see them killed like that? Friendly fire and shot through the head?

It felt like… I knew them. I know that this is impossible. I had never seen them before today.

But everything felt wrong now. They were supposed to live. I can't tell you why, but I know this to be true.

For years after that incident, I would gaze out the window of my home and feel… incomplete, for lack of a better word.

It wouldn't be for 15 more years when I found out why.

When I turned 27, I got into an accident. One of the newer kids fell into the river near the orphanage. I dived in to save him, but ended up shoving him onto land before being swept away in the current. I was gasping for air and I couldn't see. I gave up swimming after a while and let the screams of, "Deus! Deus!" wash away with the sound of the water around me. It almost felt like floating. Just as I plunged down the waterfall, I remembered.

In a different life, my name was Konzen. Two of my best friends were Kenren and Tenpou. The bodies I had seen that day were them. The reincarnations of my closest allies.

_But… where's Goku?_

That was my last thought as I hit the rocks.

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The first life was over with. It only took a little power to change the way events happened in this one. All Kanzeon had to do was make one stupid bandit shoot Tenpou and Kenren before they could meet. Then their deaths prevented them from meeting Konzen.

What was supposed to take place was that a fellow traveler would shield Tenpou from the gunshot and Kenren was fated to only get shot in the arm, leaving the two of them alive when 'Deus' and Mary arrived.

How fragile lives are.

6 lives left.

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I just have inspiration exploding. Everywhere. Review?


	3. Life 2

Life 2

The day started out normal enough. I woke up next to my lover, who also happens to be my teacher. Her name is Kathy, and she has the greenest eyes I've only seen on one other, that being myself. Her hair is caramel brown, while my own is more like chocolate. We look surprisingly alike.

Some people mistake us for siblings.

Funny, right?

Anyway, we went through our normal morning routine; get up, shower together, and get dressed for school.

Now, like I said, she's my teacher so we can't walk to school (or work, in her case) hand in hand. These kinds of romances are strictly forbidden. Even though I'm eighteen and legal, I'm still in my senior year of high school meaning that the rules nonetheless apply to me. So I leave the house first and she follows in about 10 minutes.

At school, I uphold an incredible poker face. I only talk to her when it's necessary. I don't touch her. I hardly even look in her general direction. I have my life and she has hers.

At home though, things couldn't be more different. I can sit with her head in my lap while stroking her beautiful hair for hours. Then when I make dinner, she tells me about her other students. I used to get jealous when she croons affectionately for other kids, but I pushed the emotion away when she made it very clear who her favorite is. Then we would slip into bed and fall asleep in each other's arms.

Today, however, was about to differentiate from the norm.

After getting dressed for the day, I was just one step out the door when she ran up to me.

"Honey, be careful today. It's supposed to rain later."

I laughed slightly, "Ha, could you grab me an umbrella then?"

She nodded, left, and returned to my side a few moments later. She handed me my emerald green umbrella and I thanked her.

Then I left.

The school day then proceeded normally and at the end of the day, I peered out the window. The sky was terribly dark and had been pouring water for a few hours now. I turned to my classmates who were chatting about something inane.

"So what d' you think about th' guy who's transferrin' here tomorrow?"

"I hear he dyes his hair red."

"Ya sure? I heard it's natural."

"What does it matter? Either way, he's some punk-ass kid who's here 'cause he got kicked outta his old school."

I rolled my eyes and walked away. I had no desire to be social when there was a gorgeous woman waiting for me at home.

As I opened my umbrella and stepped outside, I realized that there was an abundance of thunder and lightning amongst the rain. _'How dangerous,' _I thought.

Against my better judgment, I decided to run home. But I weighed the options: either walk and potentially get struck by a bolt of electricity, or run and have my worst injury be a scrape or two if I fell. So, I went with the lesser of two evils.

I was 3 minutes away from our house when it happened.

I quickly ran across the street when a car, going so fast, especially in the rain, slammed into my side. The driver didn't even stop. I thought I caught a glimpse of him. I may have been hallucinating. I'm sure I was. Who wears clothing like that? She (or was it a he?) had on a white- almost see-through dress and its hair was long, black, and tied back.

I lay there, half on the sidewalk, my side bleeding for what seemed like days. Months maybe.

In reality, it had been 10 minutes before Kathy spotted me on her way home.

I was fading in and out of consciousness when she screamed. Then I heard her speaking to someone I could not see. It took me an alarming amount of time to realize she had her phone to her ear and had dialed an ambulance. Did I really look that bad?

I passed out when I saw faintly flashing lights accompanied by a shrill alarm.

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The first sense that came back to me was my hearing.

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…_

A heart monitor.

My eyes opened slowly and fuzzily. My glasses were gone. The room was upsettingly white. No color anywhere. Except to my left. A caramel blur rested on my bed.

Kathy.

I moved my hand shakily to her and placed it on her head. She raised up instantly and told me to wait a few minutes while she got the doctor.

Everything hurt. But especially my side.

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…_

I waited for Kathy. My side really hurt.

_Beep.. Beep.. Beep.. Beep.._

I glanced out the window. My side hurt so badly.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

I could see the sidewalk from here. A man?

_Beep Beep Beep Beep._

No. A god. With hair that golden, he could be nothing less than holy.

_BeepBeepBeepBeep_

So… An angel had come for me. I didn't deserve Heaven. I was going to leave Kathy behind in this world. That wasn't fair. The sadness I was going to cause her. I only belong in Hell.

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP_

The pain was blinding. My vision left me again. My hearing tunneled away with the sound of the heart monitor blaring in my very skull.

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP_

* * *

He was going to survive. If fate had gone smoothly. He would have met Kenren at school. Konzen was the doctor who was going to be assigned to him when his first one disappeared.

But Kanzeon couldn't allow fate to do as it wished.

5 lives to go.

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~Side Note: I honestly can't stop laughing at the 'Some people mistake us for siblings' thing. Oh Hakkai. Anyways, thank you to people who reviewed! :3


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